2013
The idea of Arkansas Christian Theater got its start in 2013,the brainchild of brothers Jordan and Justin Brazeal, with just a handful of homeschool families in Conway, Arkansas. We were very pleased with the reception of our first musical production, The Princess and the Pauper (an adaptation for which we do not own the rights), and this sparked a little question in our minds: Could we actually write our own musicals? Which begged a second, perhaps bigger, question: Would people actually enjoy them?
2014
So we set out to test these questions. Our first all-original musical was an adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers.We called it Of Kings and Cowhands, and it remains a favorite production to this day. It was uproarious and zany with few tender moments—but it certainly was a crowd pleaser! Up until this time, we had called ourselves “The Liberty Players” (based on the name of a homeschool academy in the area which many of the cast attended), but as our talent pool was growing to incorporate a more diverse group, we decided the name had to go. Thus, the official name of Arkansas Christian Theater (ACT) was born, right after our 2014 production of Of Kings and Cowhands.
2015
After the acclaim received from Kings, we switched gears a little and tried our hand at a more serious musical, incorporating a bit of symbolism and pathos with some light humor. This was The Happy Prince, performed in 2015. It, too, was a delight to audiences, but for different reasons. Sure, it had its funny moments, but the overarching theme of “good men doing nothing” seemed to hit home for a lot of attendees.
2016
On the crest of this wave, we sat down to create another historical musical, intending to perform it in 2016. We also wanted to expand the cast to include large non-musical roles (heretofore, all large roles required strong musicality), and out of the creative fog emerged Revolution. This musical drama centered on the (fictional) life of young (non-fictional) Nicolaus Copernicus and explored themes such as political correctness, the importance of family, and the miracle of change. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that a larger cast means a larger chance of scheduling conflicts—the play was canceled and never picked back up. (Don’t you fret, though; there are plans to modify the play for a smaller cast in the hopes of producing it in the near future.)
2017
The year 2017 was a rough one for ACT; various goings-on in the lives of the directors prevented them from being able to commit to the time required to put on a production. The birth of Justin’s second child (who is adorable) meant that he could spend far less time creating and producing. Jordan’s job required him to move more than an hour away. And Janae (their sister and a major part of ACT administration) also moved more than an hour away. It seemed ACT had shriveled and died on the vine. . .
2018
For over a year, Jordan had tossed around the idea of a new full-length musical on the theme of homecoming, but the motivation to sit down and write it was never forthcoming. When he finally moved back to Conway in 2018 and previous cast members wouldn’t leave him alone about producing another musical (thanks for that!), he found his source of motivation. Within a few months, the first rough draft of Homecoming had been written, and with the help of new recruits Mark Baker and Anna Sullivan, the script and music were fine-tuned—before we knew it, auditions were scheduled!
The Future
We’ve always been about encouraging believers and acting as a light in the darkness through our productions. Rest assured, that will never change. However, we are currently trying to adopt a more transitory model of performance, rather than staging all of our performances at one location. It is our vision to strengthen and challenge Christians, and we feel we may have more of an impact by traveling to different churches or host sites in the Conway area. If you would like to host us during our performance bloc (September 17 – 28), please email us at archristiantheater@gmail.com.
For those of you wondering. . . ACT will always perform original musicals only. It’s what makes us unique.
Arkansas Christian Theater 